/
Costa Rica
/
San José Province
/
San José
/
Tours & Activities
/
San Jose Walking Tour: Food, History and Architecture
3 h
By walk
Instant confirmation
About this activity
Start your San Jose walking tour at a café in Mercado Borbón (Borbón Market), where you’ll meet your guide and relax with a rich cup of morning coffee. Then take a stroll through the market, tasting fresh fruit and learning more about the agricultural history of the area.
You’ll visit a number of stands, from a coffee stand where you'll learn about the Costa Rican chorrado brewing method, to a local folk medicine stand. Your guide shares insight about the market and coffee and their impact on the history of San Jose’s citizens.
Discover more local history when you continue to the Central Market, a San Jose historical treasure. You’ll find no better place to experience the local cuisine than this market, established in 1882 and full to the brim with typical Costa Rican food and drink. As you explore the labyrinth of culinary choices with your guide by your side, sample local specialties and sip your second Costa Rican coffee of the day.
Complete your walking tour here, armed with a wealth of historical information, culinary know-how and perhaps even some local lingo to continue exploring on your own.
Read more
Show less
You’ll visit a number of stands, from a coffee stand where you'll learn about the Costa Rican chorrado brewing method, to a local folk medicine stand. Your guide shares insight about the market and coffee and their impact on the history of San Jose’s citizens.
Discover more local history when you continue to the Central Market, a San Jose historical treasure. You’ll find no better place to experience the local cuisine than this market, established in 1882 and full to the brim with typical Costa Rican food and drink. As you explore the labyrinth of culinary choices with your guide by your side, sample local specialties and sip your second Costa Rican coffee of the day.
Complete your walking tour here, armed with a wealth of historical information, culinary know-how and perhaps even some local lingo to continue exploring on your own.
Included
- Local guide
- Food tastings
Not included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Minimum age is 6 years
- The timing of this tour fits perfectly with our Total Bites and Gold Museum tour or our Pura Vida Experience tour, so you can do both in the same day, if you wish!
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
Features
Tourism
90%
Cultural
75%
Sport
25%
Reviews
You may also like
See all 24 Collections
Click to discover other experiences
See all
Collections
Show & Nightlife
10 Activities
Collections
Hot springs
32 Activities
Collections
Other trips
13 Activities
Collections
Monteverde Cloud forest
12 Activities
Collections
Hanging bridges
11 Activities
Collections
Outdoor activities
12 Activities
Collections
Tortuga island
6 Activities
Collections
Zipline
14 Activities
Collections
Aerial tram tour
8 Activities
Collections
Sarapiquí river
24 Activities
Truly enjoyed the tour and Ernesto was a great guide. My favorite part was the smaller market with all beautiful fruits and vegetables. Highly recommend this tour.
Eric our guide was helpful and knowledgeable. One of the group got los finding the start location and he connected with her and helped her find the group. He provided interesting information on the development of the city through its various historical periods. We enjoyed local coffee and fruits in the market, and he was careful to check for gluten ingredients as I have Celiac Disease. While I couldn’t enjoy some items, such as the empenadas, he did conform that I could enjoy all of the other food items, including calling his own family member with celiac to confirm ingredients in tamales to determine if I could have them. The final stop at the chocolate shop includes a history and demonstration of artesian chocolate making. We took this trip at the beginning of our vacation, and it was fun to begin with this insight into the development of the Costa Rican culture.
Tour guide v. engaging spending just the right amount of time and attention on what's in the market (great samples) and what's in the core of downtown. Great on caution to avoid a certain part of town. HIghly recommend.
The direction to the meeting point showed a street name that our GPS couldnt find. Consequently we were late and the group had left. We called the office and followed up for over 90 minutes to find out if we could meet the group along the route somewhere/anywhere. We got stonewalled by the person we were speaking with. To be fair he did offer us to take the tour that evening but unfortunately we couldnt take that due to other commitments.
Our tour guide was absolutely marvelous-very knowledgeable and interesting. We got to taste many fruits, as well as drink coconut water from a coconut! After leaving the food market, we went to the Central Market and got to taste other interesting dishes. A great tour!
I can't stress how much I loved this tour. I wanted to escape the touristy traps and experience a somewhat authentic market/history tour. This company and the guy pictured in promo Miguel I believe was awesome. I was able to view the markets, try some fruits and get a slight history lesson. I loved it for my first trip and solo trip at that.